The Evil Child of Kelo

Last year's Supreme Court decision in the Kelo case was one of the greatest blows struck against individual liberty and property rights in our nation's history. Granting local governments the right to further line the pockets of their campaign contributors by seizing the homes of people for no other reason than to build a new shopping mall would horrify the Founding Fathers who gave a limited right to takings only for public purposes. A shopping mall is nice, I hope they build the one 5 miles down the road that they're talking about. But it is not a public purpose as meant by the Framers of the Constitution.

Now that decision is bearing evil children. One of the new targets in cities across the country is churches. This week the city of Long Beach, California voted to condemn and seize the property of the Filipino Baptist Fellowship Church for the "public purpose" of building new condos. While this meets the (absurd) test of Kelo in that it increases the tax base, is is a great and spreading evil. No church is safe, because they don't add to the tax base. Therefore any church--including the one you attend--can be seized anytime a developer wants to put up an apartment complex or a mall.

The Claremont Institute is working to defend this church. You can read the update on this story at their website for further details. We should all be praying for their success, because this will not stop at the city limits of Long Beach.